Reminiscences of the King of RoumaniaKremnitz, Mite
History
Reminiscences of the King of Roumania
Kremnitz, Mite
Carol I, King of Romania, 1839-1914; Eastern question (Balkan); Jews -- Romania; Romania -- History -- Charles I, 1866-1914
knowledge of every detail of warfare, made him as popular with his
officers as with his men.
From the outset Prince Charles endeavoured to mould the spirit of
his officers on that to which he had been accustomed in Prussia.
Shortly after his accession, he received a round robin from the
officers of the army, desiring that those officers who had taken
part in the Revolution of February 23, 1866, should be dismissed
from the army. Prince Charles received the deputation in the Palace
and addressed them as follows:
"I have accepted your address, first, because I respect the
feeling which has dictated this step; and secondly, that I might
have an occasion of informing you of my views upon military
honour and the duties of a soldier.
"An address is apt to assume the appearance of moral pressure,
such as no soldier can be permitted to exercise over the supreme
head of the army.
"The soldier's oath demands absolute obedience. Neither the
acts of the head of the army, nor the motives which lead to
them, admit of criticism; politics must have no influence on the
soldier, whose sole duty it is to defend with his last breath
his Sovereign and his country against every enemy.
"I am fully convinced that you share my views, and recognise
that your action is from every military standpoint inadmissible.
It is on that account that I desire you to trust to my military
judgment, and to leave to me to act in all that concerns the
army according to my own conviction and sense of duty.
"At the same time, I repeat, I appreciate the honourable feeling
on which this address is based; but I also again urge that I
demand at all times devotion and unreserved obedience from each
one of you.
"I have been and am still a soldier by inclination; and it is
for that reason, as well as on account of the importance to
the country of a well-disciplined army, that one of my most
cherished aims will be to secure for it the position to which
it has every right to aspire. I shall endeavour to become well
acquainted with the army and its leaders, that I may be able to
decide according to merit and justice, by utterly rejecting all
party or personal interest.
"Reckon confidently on this promise, and remember that I have
come to create a future, and not to rely upon the precedents
of a past which I ignore, and of which I would even prefer to
remain ignorant."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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